Phantasy Star Online: Lost Episode Darkness Fallz
by demonslayer206
Summary: Between Episode II &III. Pioneer 2 has been hanging over Ragol for over a year, struggling to clear the threat on Ragol to colonize it. However, another darkness is beginning. Can the Hunters handle this darkness, or are they doomed? Ch.1 up
1. Prologue: Fall of Idola

The world of Corel was loosing its struggle to live, endangering the lives of millions that have called the planet their home. When it was learned that the planet would die in a matter of years, the population did whatever they could to ensure their survival. They started the _Pioneer Project_, a program that involved the sending of unmanned probes out into the universe to locate a planet capable of sustaining the lives of the populace. As the probes were sent out, construction began on a series of interstellar transport ships. These ships, the _Pioneers_, were designed to ensure that the population made it to the designated planet, and then could be disassembled to create the lodgings and essentials needed for the civilians to live on the planet. It was a plan of desperation

Not very long after _Pioneer 1_ was completed, one of the probes had located a planet suitable for colonization approximately seven years away from Coral. The planet, now named Ragol, was the only one that was close to Coral, as other such planets were either inhospitable or turned up much farther away than Ragol did. Once the news was spread, Pioneer 1 was loaded with its crew before being launched. The crew of this first ship consisted mostly of combat officers and scientists, with very few civilians aboard. Among the people onboard were the chief officers of WORKS, Heathcliff Flowen, and Rico Tyrell (who is later and better known as Red Ring Rico). As they left for the planet, _Pioneer 2_'s construction was beginning. It would be seven years later when _Pioneer 1_ finally arrived on Ragol and sent a communication back to Coral that they had arrived. After years of waiting, the remainder of the populace boarded _Pioneer 2_ and left the planet for good, leaving behind the planet that had been home to them for generations.

After seven years of space travel, _Pioneer 2_ finally arrived at Ragol with the main wave of refugees and opened a communication link with the now transformed _Pioneer 1_. _Pioneer 1_, known as the Central Dome now, opened communications with _Pioneer 2_ only moments before a mysterious explosion rocked the planet. An investigation was started with unmanned probes on the ship, which were sent down to the surface to find out what had happened on the surface. The probes didn't survive after arriving on the surface, but they sent back enough information to let the people of _Pioneer 2_ know that all aboard _Pioneer 1_ had disappeared. Thousands of men, women, and children were gone, and many aboard _Pioneer 2_ were distressed. Many of them had relatives that had left on _Pioneer 1_, and now they were emotional wrecks with the fact that they would never be able to see them again. Several were more interested in going down to the surface to claim land. Few of them returned, having learned the hard way that the surface wasn't as safe as _Pioneer 1_ had led them to believe.

The dilemma was set. _Pioneer 2_ doesn't have enough resources or power to trek back to Coral, having only enough supplies to last them roughly nine years when they left. There are no other planets capable of sustaining life within light-years of their position, and they would run out of food provisions long before they could reach a new planet. It was now or never, _Pioneer 2_ had no choice left but to colonize the planet and pick up where _Pioneer 1_ left off. The only other problem was weapons and military. _Pioneer 1 _carried the vast majority of the most intelligent military minds and a large chunk of Coral's army and militia, including WORKS 32nd primary forces.

_Principle_ Tyrell personally called for an investigation as to what had happened on the planet. They couldn't send their soldiers down; they had barely enough to handle the few unruly outbursts that occurred on _Pioneer 2_. He called upon the HUNTERS, specialized mercenary warriors that had been common placed back on Coral. They would be called to do odd jobs for the government and a variety of clients, and it could be nearly any job imaginable. The ship was home to a large number of these HUNTERS, nearly half the humanoid population were HUNTERS along with a large majority of Casts, androids capable of individual action or serving under a master. Among those HUNTERS, only about 10 were the best of the best at the time. Others were just getting started or were somewhere between the elite and the newbie's.

Tyrell called upon the best Hunter he knew, Thalius, to lead the investigation as to what happened. He wasn't alone. He had three others with him for the mission, one of which he had trained for the past two years in combat. They went down to Ragol and managed to fight their way through, revealing more and more about what had happened on the planet. They learned that Rico had survived and started her own investigation shortly after the explosion, leaving data capsules behind for any that wanted to learn the secrets of the planet to follow. They learned that something was kept from the rest of _Pioneer 1_ after it landed. They had uncovered something below the planet, something that was supposed to be sealed away by another race. Having failed at destroying it, they had only successfully sealed it away and launched it deep into space, hoping it would be gone forever. Having been released, it had caused the explosion on the surface and wiped the populace of _Pioneer 1_ from the face of the continent. When Rico confronted it, she ended up as the host to the being known as Dark Falz. By time Thalius and his group arrived, they confronted and battled the entity. By time the dust settled, one of their group was down, an old model Ra cast that had been in service for nearly fifteen years severely damaged by the entity to the point in which its systems failed and ceased to function. Falz itself was defeated, but they ended up killing Rico in the process. The surviving trio became legends among the living legends already aboard the ship, but none knew the true fate of Red Ring Rico and the hand the Hunters had in her death. None but Tyrell and the trio of HUNTERS themselves knew the truth.

Several months pass before startling information is uncovered by Jean Carlos Montague, the lead scientist and greatest genius that lives on _Pioneer 2_. The mines had been home to three AI systems that Pioneer 1 had created itself. The first AI of mention was known as Carl; the only AI recovered and utilized by the lab in _Pioneer 2_ itself after its successful extraction by Ellie Person and the huntress that assisted her, whose original intent was to find the fate of her pen-pal. It would be later learned that the pen pale was Cal itself. The second AI was Vol-Opt. It ran out of control and now attacks anything that enters its domain, creating a never ending horde of robots below the surface of Ragol and constantly repairing its body after every defeat it suffers. A third AI existed down there as well, Olga, but its whereabouts are unknown. Records indicated that the Mines had a connection with Olga for a while after the explosion occurred above, but the link was terminated. Information from Rico's data capsules also claimed that nearly 12 of the materials from _Pioneer 1_ weren't present in the building of Central Dome, making it that much smaller than initially intended. Nearly a year after _Pioneer 2_ arrived; a while after Montague went into hiding on Ragol itself to avoid WORKS, would the fate of these things become known to the government.

Gal Da Val Island was discovered, as was a message sent by Heathcliff Flowen on the planet. Information said that Flowen was labeled as dead nearly a year prior to the explosion, meaning someone was trying to get attention or the records were false. Because of the situation, they sent only two HUNTERS there to find out what is going on and to figure out the fate of Heathcliff Flowen…

**PHANTASY STAR: THE LOST EPISODE**

**DARKNESS FALLZ**

_When I first heard of Heathcliff Flowen, I had hoped to become as strong and powerful as he was. When I heard that he had died on the planet before we arrived, I cried believing I wouldn't get the chance to see him. I had fought alongside his friend, helping to achieve his dream of killing 10,000 creatures, only to hear his last words being that he had hoped to see that man one last time before he passed on. He never got that chance, and I'm thankful he never got to see what had really become of his friend…_

_Gal Da Val Island_

_Lower Seabed Facility, Disposal Block A23_

_11 months, 9 days after arrival_

A long tunnel stretches down from the lowest portion of the Seabed Facility, a mere warp pad away to a location approximately one mile away from the island. Lights blinked off of the dark blue walls. These very walls aren't natural; they were created by something more technological than what the primitive creatures living on the planet are capable of. It stretched down into the depths of the planet, so far down that one can't see the bottom with the darkness in the way. However, one could see some flashes of light and a loud howl of rage and pain from the bottom.

Both hunters jumped out of the way as Olga Flow caused a cave in at the bottom of the disposal block, narrowly dodging the rocks that fell from above. The creature called Olga Flow was easily 56 feet tall, standing like a human being in all its mutated glory. Its skin was purple and pulsing every few seconds, its appearance seemingly similar to those of the blasts that mags are capable of releasing. Its arms were weapons only. The right hand was formed into a large sword nearly twenty five feet long, while the left appeared to be a large mutated crossbow. Twin creatures floated into battle with him, but both were currently unconscious from the photon barrage they had endured from the pair he now was determined to crush. With another roar, he did a soul swap on one of the hunters before starting his stomping around the battle area.

A blond haired girl ducked to the side to avoid his foot before jumping at him, her blade drawn and swinging right into his ankle. Her green eyes were dull in the dim light as she kept an eye on what her opponent was doing. She is wearing a blue battle jacket and a matching pair of shorts, her shield hand covered by a blue glove with a data pad on her forearm. Blue boots adorned her feet, matching with her blue clothes and the blue emblem of Bluful on her choker. She is relatively thin, with a slightly larger than average bust straining her jacket and the white shirt underneath. She stands at about 5'7" tall with the boots on, and she was a bit beaten up. Her jacket and shorts are torn in some areas from the constant fighting she had endured that day. A kitten like mag hovered over her left shoulder as she ducked again, only to get hit by the foot with her shield blocking most of the blow. The shield was visible, unlike most of the data-pad activated shields, blue and purple in color with DB scratched onto its front. Her DB saber was held tightly in her right hand as she got back up, revealing an armored plate with DB inscribed on it as well. "That had to be the hundredth time I've sliced into him," she shouted, her long ears twitching in irritation.

"No need to tell me twice," the hunter yelled back. He appeared to be quite old, his hair already graying. He is wearing the armor of Pioneer 1 combat personnel and was equipped with a large, yellow bladed Calibur in his hands. "You have ANY idea how much I'm hating this." He pulled out a Varista pistol and started firing, flinching in pain as the soul link was still active, causing the man to hurt himself at the same time with the girl. Savitri bleeped in irritation at how its master was being harmed in such a way. As for his appearance, he wasn't much better off than the Newman huntress he was fighting with.

"You think I don't know?" the girl shot back, drawing her own Bravace pistol and firing into Olga Flow. "He did that to me once already. Being in a guy's form is disgusting, no matter whose body it used to be!"

"You're the lucky one!" he yelled back as he fired at his legs again. "This is the third time he's done this to me!" He looked at his mag, noticing the signs. "Hey, is your Mag ready for a blast?"

"Just one more…" She replied as she jumped away with the guy as Olga Flow caused the ceiling to fall again. "I'm afraid SATO has never used more than three Photon blasts in one day. This'll be his eight one."

"Got it! Hope this works!" Both of them charged in towards Olga Flow, ducking to the side to avoid his foot falls. It was at this point in time that the soul link finally wore off, and the man started to glow brightly as his form changed. His clothes changed to look like a pair similar to what the girl was wearing. His body began to change as well, growing shorter in stature as his chest started to swell out. "About time!" the hunter yelled, the voice changing from that of a middle aged man to that of a late teen girl. The hair grew longer as it took on a dark red tint, the grey eyes shifting to a deep emerald green as a young Newman girl finally returned to normal. She smirked as her ears elongated back to their normal length. "Now it's payback time! PILLA!" she shouted, spreading her hands out as time slowed down around her. The mag released the photon blast, the form of a dark sorcerer of sorts appearing above her. It spread its own arms out, creating twin arches on each arm like a sort of antenna as energy pooled above its head. A moment later, a beam of energy was shot up right through Olga Flow, dispersing at its chest and raining down around it. Once time was returned to normal, the creature screamed in rage and pain as it felt the damage done by the mag.

"My turn!" the other girl shouted. "GOLLA!" Again time slowed down. Again was a photon blast released from the mag, although this particular mag was getting exhausted and deployed a different entity. A large, moose like creature appeared above the blond haired huntress, electricity surging between its antlers before it launched its attack. Olga Flow screeched in pain as its body was zapped by the blast, blood flowing from its many wounds on its ankles and chest. It gave one final cry before it finally fell down onto the ground on its knees, then keel over as it landed on its side. A large cloud of dust was kicked up into the air as the creature slammed hard into the ground along with a spray of the little water already on the ground.

The two girls were still standing once the dust settled, and both looked like they were in need of visiting the hospital wing for once. The blond haired girl has a cut on her forehead from when she was knocked onto the ground by a Delbiter, as well as several bleeding cuts and dark bruises on her body. The red head wasn't in much better shape, her battle jacket being more torn up than the other girl. Her shirt was split open underneath the jacket, revealing the Divinity Armor set she was wearing underneath. Unfortunately for her, it was nearly sliced through completely from another creature she had battled earlier.

Both of them looked at the body of Olga Flow, then at each other. "W-we won…" the blond said, sealing her weapons in their appropriate weapon capsules. "We got them, Palin. It's over…"

The red head smiled. "Yup," she replied, breathing deeply to catch her breath. "That thing was tough… too tough for me…"

"Come on… don't sell yourself short…" the blond said. "Sure… you only have been a Hunter for barely six months… but you pulled through." She smirked as she rubbed her sore side. "I only managed to attain my level of skill from a legend. Trained several years before we got here, then accompanied him on one hell of a mission once we got here…" She stretched herself out, grimacing in pain from her wounds. "Haven't been this badly hurt since ten months ago…" Both of their ears flicked upwards as they both heard a small mechanical object approach them, the both of them looking up. The object was cylindrical in appearance, with several hexagon shaped panels extending from its sides.

"Are you two alright?" a voice asked from the device as one of the panels showed the face of a brown haired and eyed Newman girl, concern shown in her voice and looks.

"We're fine, mostly," the blond said. "We just need to visit the hospital wing before we're thought and hand in our report. Thanks for caring, Ellie."

The girl on screen sighed. "That's a relief," she said, giving the pair a smile. "That had to be one though fight for the both of you to handle…"

"It was," the girl replied. "Nearly as tough as Dark Falz was."

Palin looked at the girl questionably, gripping her own wounds. "I don't think you ever mentioned someone by that name, Jeni," she said. "Who was it?"

"A monster that my master and two others fought nearly ten months ago," she replied, looking for the transporter out of there. "Two Ra casts accompanied us, but one of them was destroyed in battle…" She frowned. "Ellie, where's the transporter?"

"Huh?" Ellie asked, for she was listening to Jeni explain about Dark Falz and trying to figure out why that story sounded familiar. She blinked in surprise as she checked her consoles. "This doesn't make sense… the transporter is down there, but it isn't active right now." She frowned as she frantically worked the controls. "This shouldn't be right. The transporter should be working right…" Her eyes widened in shock at the readings she was getting on her monitors, then she looked at the pair through the view screen. Her eyes showed a mixture of pure shock and fear. "LOOK OUT!"

Palin had seen Ellie's look of shock before she looked at the screen, and had turned around to see what was wrong. She was just as startled to see that Olga Flow was still alive behind them, having managed to crawl its way over to them and lift its sword. Jeni hadn't noticed until the warning was issued, but it was too late by then. The creature had let its blade fall before the girl could turn around to defend herself. A loud scream of pain was heard as the weapon tore through the back of the girl's jacket, shredding through armor and flesh alike as it cut into her back and sliced into some bones. Blood shot out of the Newman's back in a spray of red, her body tensed from the wound as she fell face forward. She threw her arms in front of her to prevent herself from slamming into the ground face first, but her arms quivered in the attempt. She was fighting since they entered the seabed facility, and she was practically exhausted from her battles up till now.

Palin growled once she ducked to the side, having been thinking that the monster was going to strike her. Rage in her eyes, she unsheathed her Calibur and charged. "DIE!" she yelled as she leapt as far as she could, her weapon slamming down on the creature's head. It screeched in pain as the blade cut through its skull, blood spraying her weapon as it struggling started to cease. After a moment of keeping the weapon wedged into its head, the creature stopped moving. Convinced it was dead this time, Palin lifted her weapon out of its head and swung it several times. She frowned when she saw that the blood wasn't coming off of the weapon, reluctantly sealing it back in its weapon capsule. She saw the transporter activate finally on the far end of the room as Olga Flow began to seemingly decompose.

She wasted no time. She moved quickly to her comrade, checking to make sure she was alright. Jeni had passed out from the loss of blood coupled with her combat fatigue. She was facedown in the ground, her blood pooling on her back as it started to stain her jacket and drip down the sides of her body. Her eyes were closed and she is breathing heavily. Palin saw the severity of the wound. She was disgusted, swearing she saw several bones cut clean through within the wounded girl. "Ellie! Get a medical team over to the transporter room! Jeni's hurt very badly, she's unconscious!" Ellie confirmed this and called the hospital staff over to the room on the double. Palin grabbed the girl and hoisted her onto her back, Sato flying behind them. She moved slower than normal, having to bear double her own weight with the other Newman on her back. She reached the transporter within two minutes and stepped into it, making sure the both of them were entirely within the energy rings. She looked back, seeing the trail of Jeni's blood following them to the transporter, which was now starting to accumulate some blood as well. "Hang on, Jeni," Palin murmured as she looked at the top of the machine. "LAB!" she shouted. In a flash of light, they were gone, leaving the corpse of Olga Flow to rot hundreds of feet below the surface.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

HUNTER Profiles:

Jennie Knight: (often called Jeni or Jen for short)

Class: Hunter Species: Newman (newarl) Gender: female Section ID: Bluful

Age: 18 Eyes: green Hair: blond

History: A young girl that lost both her parents before _Pioneer 2_ could launch. Her mother was a newman, having died at the age of 26 years old. Her father mysteriously died when she was only 10, a few months before _Pioneer 2_ launched and only 6 months before her birthday. She was only 15 when she decided to become a hunter, and ended up becoming the apprentice to legendary hunter Thalius. Her combat skill is quite impressive in most combat situations, preferring swordplay at this particular time in her career. She is sometimes seen carrying a gun, but saves it for when she must hit something far away without her tech. She also happens to be a weapon collector, namely any powerful or useful weapons and gear she finds on Ragol rather than what she can buy at the shops.

Weapons: DB SABER +44- Replica of a saber once used by the military. An extremely common replica. This weapon was her weapon of choice early in her career, a gift from Thalius. Although it really isn't much in comparison to some other blades, she has used it effectively and prefers it over the other weapons she has.

BRAVACE +30- Legendary pistol reserved for high-ranking officers aboard _Pioneer 1_. Adds lightning damage. Of all her weapons, she is often seen with this one as her backup weapon. It is the farthest shooting gun she has and is very accurate, although she doesn't use lightning rounds too much. She finds it less effective than her Zonde skill. She pulled this thing out of the ruins of a Gilchik combat robot.

Armor: DB ARMOR, DB SHIELD- The shield is from a shield trade with her ally, the armor was a gift from the same ally. Both have DB etched into them, and are rather potent when she draws her DB SABER. It is said that the combination of those three items increases one's strength, toughness, and evasion.

Status: badly wounded

Palin Higeki: (often called Palin)

Class: Hunter Species: Newman (newarl) Gender: Female Section ID: Viridia

Age: 18 Eyes: green Hair: blood red

History: Not much is known about this hunter, aside from her basic information. She is relatively new, but is rather effective for one just starting. Her skills need some sharpening, but that is something only time can help.

Weapons: Calibur- An exceptional large sword. Has amazing power. She picked up this weapon during her brief training period prior to her most recent assignment. She wields it well, but it cuts into her evasion. Is best used against a crowd.

Varista- A legendary, high performance pistol. Its special attack causes paralysis. Like Jeni, she uses it when she needs to hit something far away. Unlike Jeni, it normally isn't to spare the use of her tech, it's because her tech ability is rather poor at the time. It is a gift from a friend.

Armor: Divinity Armor, Divinity Barrier- Rather high level battle armor and gear, occasionally found in the shops, as hers were. Nothing special about them, for they are mass produced gear made by the finest craftsmen.

000000000000000000000000000000000

Pay attention for additional HUNTERS updates…

Till next time.


	2. Chapter 1: Forest Fire

**Phantasy Star Online: Lost Episode**

**Darkness Fallz**

_It was supposed to be a simple mission. Who would've known something stronger than the normal creatures would appear…_

Chapter 1

_Pioneer 2_

_Courtyard 13, Residential Shopping District_

_HUNTER'S Guild_

_One month later…11:00_ _hours_

_Pioneer 2_ is as alive as it usually is. Now that the ship has been orbiting the planet for an entire year, it was finally taking a chance and moving closer to Ragol. As of right now, it is in higher planetary orbit, but just far enough to be out of the planet's atmosphere. The fact that the ship was now that close enables the citizens and pilots of the ship to enjoy the sunrise and sunset of the planet, after having had seven years of nothing but the stars and darkness of space filling their 'windows.'

On the ship, there is only one spot that was seemingly reserved, since a particular hunter chose this spot to look out at the stars, then at the curve of the planet once they arrived at Ragol. Some of the HUNTERS know better than to go near there for too long, since that particular hunter prefers being alone while in that particular spot. At this particular moment, one such HUNTER was taking one hell of a chance. It stood with its back to all behind it, looking out the window emotionlessly. Its arms were crossed over its massive body, the metal parts of the bulky arms just scratching the armor. Compared to the rest of its body, the head and legs of this particular Cast series machine were a bit too small. It stands over six feet tall and weight well over 200 pounds. Its armor is a faded and battle scarred tan with green trim. On the shoulder plate on its left arm, faded letters and numbers could just be made out to say NL0026.

'Analysis complete,' he processed, looking at the sunrise. 'Data is identical to that accumulated yesterday…' His armored head looked out at the window, shifting from analysis mode and combat mode visors to a simple vision mode visor. Its head looked similar to that of a human head, but a plate covered where its eyes would be. 'Conclusion: This activity is a complete waste of the Huntress's time…' He decided to uncross his arms, letting the bulky limbs drop to his side. 'That makes 173 analysis's done, all inconclusive.'

"NL?" The machine paused from looking out the window and looked to his side, already identifying the voice. Standing just behind him to the side was a young hunter, not much older than 17 or eighteen. The boy stands nearly 5'9" tall with a mess of brown hair. His brown eyes still showed his innocence as a boy, yet his physical features were screaming toned young man. He wears a white battle suit, complete with wrist watch and several armored pads. On his chest was the sigil of Redria. "What are you doing just standing there?"

"Analyzing this spot to find some reason as to why the huntress spends so much time here normally," he replied to the boy, turning back to the window. "She doesn't seem to have any reason, so it must be a waste of time for her to even bother."

"And yet she does," the boy replied, looking at the window. "She probably stands here to enjoy the scenery or think. Maybe even a mix of both." He looks at the larger machine. "Of course, I know next to nothing about how she acts, let alone who she is and what she looks like. You never say a thing about her, even her name."

"Names are just a thing given to others to identify them as individuals," the machine replied. "They also cause your kind to feel emotional when one of them eventually falls, especially when it is one you know well." It turned away from the window. "I don't bother remembering the names, just their class. You want to know the Huntress's name; you'd best ask her yourself when you see her."

"But I don't know what she looks like," they boy shot back.

"Provided she's still alive, you'll know soon enough, Adrock," NL replied before he marched off to the counter, determined to snag a mission before his circuits rust from idleness. He stopped short of it, for another newman had gotten in the way. She wore a black set of combat clothes similar to what a hunter wears, complete with data pad over a black glove. Her hair is bordering between blond and a pale green, clashing with her blue eyes. Her ears perked up as the machine stopped only an inch away from her, her eyes widened in surprise. She barely stood up to the lower part of his chest plate.

"An NL series Racast?" she questioned, taking in its battered frame and spotting its ID number. "I thought all the NL types were destroyed within our first few months here…"

NL just looked at the newman, and would be expressing a look of anger and irritation if he could do such a thing. "Move, girl," he said bluntly.

"Hey, NL! That is no way to speak to a girl!" Adrock moved over to the bigger machine. "Sorry about him," he said as he looked at the girl. "He's not the social type."

The girl gave a small smile, but her face showed some urgency. "No need to apologize. It's just a flaw NL model Casts have." NL's fingers twitched. "Besides, we all know such things require a steady flow of missions to keep them satisfied, and I need someone to handle this mission. Perhaps you two would be interested?"

Adrock was too busy trying to yell at the machine for his lack of manners to the girl to listen, but NL clasped his hand over the boy's mouth to shut him up. "A mission?" he inquired, getting a nod from the girl.

0000000000000

_Planet Ragol_

_Forest_ _Area, Section 2_

_Central Dome Residential Area, A block_

_11:10_ _hours_

The forest area is among the largest area on the surface of Ragol, and happens to be the resting place of the Central Dome, all that remains of the once space faring _Pioneer 1_. Its lush, green vegetation was starting to grow rampant, but was still easy for others to walk through. A transporter exists below a small ridge, with two doors from the ship blocking the area out.

However, flames have now erupted throughout the entire area, extending beyond the section that the transporter is in. At that particular moment, ten HUNTERS happened to be down there before the place burst into flames. Several hunters managed to find shelter, but others were now at the flame's mercy. One such hunter was already near the transporter, but had fallen from his injuries with his Gigush in hand, some flames already spreading to his prone body.

As it seemed that the flames would take him, the transporter's blue rings gave a bright flash, blinding the entire area as two HUNTERS entered the area, guns in hand. The mech in this two man group happened to spot the flames heading for the hunter and pointed his Justice machine gun at the flames and fired. The photon rounds struck the flames and started to extinguish them. The machine fired several more times, eventually taking out the flames in a few shots of machine gun fire. The other fired on a control switch, which happened to be aflame at the moment, with a Custom Ray Version 00 handgun. The flames were cleansed from the one area within a minute, the two hunters now standing over the fallen one.

"Are you… here to…" the fallen hunter started, struggling to get back up.

"Remain still," NL replied as he dropped a device near the wounded hunter. "This device will return you to the ship."

"Sorry… rescue the others…" The hunter didn't say much more before a bright flash engulfed him, bringing him straight to _Pioneer 2's_ Hospital wing.

Adrock looked around, noticing smoke rising over the barricades. "We need to move now," he said. "The casts may be able to withstand the heat as can our armors, but most of the other Hunters still down here need clean air to breathe."

"Understood," NL replied as he activated the switch to the next section. More like he slammed one of his fists into the switch, since both hands were full with his H&S 25 Justice machine guns. His Nidra mag beeped in irritation at its master, clacking its scorpion-like claws at its master for such reckless action. "Weapon add-on is working perfectly; the flames are being extinguished by the very rounds that can kill the creatures here."

"Terrific, NL. Just shoot the damn things!" Adrock had entered the room and started firing on a patch of fire. As the two warriors shot at the flames, Nidra moved away from them for a moment, only to beep in alarm upon reaching one spot. A large panel had moved from the rock face to block off an access path. It was keeping the fire in their area out and away from a RA caseal, which happened to be in emergency recovery mode to counter the severe levels of heat in her section. Again, the pair managed to extinguish the flames, allowing the panel to move out of the way.

"Check for survivors in this block," NL said as he returned to the last area, checking for another path. Adrock entered the section and spotted the RAcaseal lying on the ground, a laser rifle in her hands. He checked to make sure her systems were still working before sending her back. He then turned and headed back into the last block, spotting NL up top of the dirt ramp.

"Status?"

Adrock smiled as he moved up the ramp, where NL was shooting out some flames they had missed around the transporter. "A RA caseal. We got her out of there long before her systems would've failed," he replied, moving up to the door. NL moved to the now flameless switch, activating it. "How's the situation here?"

"Fire in block A and G confirmed extinguished, then," NL replied, checking his Justice weapons on their status. He would've smiled if he had a mouth, for the weapon still has some charge in it, namely about 87. "Proceeding to B block now. Follow." Adrock simply nodded as the larger ranger moved ahead, mech guns held at his sides as he proceeded ahead.

"Surprised you're handling this well," Adrock replied. "I know you've been my battle partner for a month, but you live for battle. Without something to kill, you just seem so…" He stopped speaking as NL fired onto the fire ahead of him, extinguishing it. Sighing, he drew his pistol and fired into the flames, only to pale as he heard a growl from one of the native creatures. He turned and saw a group of boomas crawl out of the ground around the flames, roaring in rage.

"Activating Cod3 01," NL started, his speech changing as he holstered the Justice guns onto his thighs, and then popping open another red container. It glowed and formed into an orb, then became a Final Impact shotgun. "Elimi\4t3 -057il35!" Adrock sighed as the first shotgun round was fired with reckless abandon, grateful he wasn't in the line of fire this time as the boomas were hit. They roared in anger and pain as they charged towards the Racast, who stood his ground and fired as Adrock shot rounds from his own gun. "PR3P4R3 7O DI3, CR33P5!" NL shouted as the boomas feel, with a group of goboomas clawing their way out onto the surface to attack.

0000000000000000000000

_Pioneer 2_

_Courtyard 13, Residential Shopping District_

_HUNTER'S Guild_

_11:43_ _hours_

The Newman watched as the wounded were being teleported up to the ship, seeing them being rushed into the medical bay just across the street from the guild. "Seems they were the best for the job," she murmured in thought, checking their situation with her BEE system computers. It had been nearly a half hour since the pair of hunters accepted the mission, and they had already gotten about eight other hunters out of the blaze. She winced as she heard some chatter on her device.

'_DAMMIT, NL! WATCH WHERE YOU… YIE!'_

_BLAM! 'DI3 FOO5!' BLAM! gggrroOOOARRRR_

'_DAMN MOTHER #$! STOP POPPING OUT OF THE GROUND ALREADY, YOU BASTARDS!'_

_grOOOaarr shrrAAAACK_

'_NL… HEY WAIT! DON'T USE THE…'_

_BLAM VEEeeeeBOOM! GGGGRRROAAAAAAAAAAARrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr……_

'_T4RG375 3LIMIN473! PROC3EDING with mission…'_

'_Damn, you crazy bastard! YOU ALMOST SHOT ME!'_

The Newman's eyes were wide with shock at that particular transmission she had just received. The equipment claimed that they were in block H of the second forest area, the block just before the Central Dome entrance. 'Was it really a good idea for me to give them that job?' she started to wonder, her mind showing her images as to what may have happened down there. It wasn't long before another pair of Hunters appeared near the medical bay, both of them being rushed into the place for healing. She nodded as she got reports from her other team, whom claimed that the fire seemed to have been put out. However, within a few minutes, there were screams of another fire erupting before contact with the group was lost. It didn't take too long before both hired hunters arrived, both of them looking a little on the scorched side. Adrock was giving the larger machine a few death glares, and she had a vague idea as to why.

"Good job on rescuing the hunters," she said, putting her professional face on. "You can now collect your guild at the counter…"

NL stared at the girl, as did Adrock. "You seem troubled by something… What's wrong?" Adrock asked.

"Well, just before you got back, one of my teams claimed that another fire broke out before I lost contact with them. We need someone to go down and find out what happened." She shifted slightly uncomfortably on her feet. "If you two want, you can go back down and continue with this investigation to find out what's going on?"

"I accept," NL started, causing Adrock to turn and look at the ranger.

The huntress seemed to not be amused. "I'll ask again, will you go back down there?"

Adrock saw that NL wasn't going to change his mind. 'Damn RA cast. He's so damn war wacky right now; he would destroy himself if he felt that it would kill whatever is attacking…' Adrock was about to protest to continuing, when he thought about something else. 'But she did say another fire broke out… I could've sword we took out all the flames before we left…' With a sigh, he looked at the hunter. "Fine, I agree. We'll return to the forest and check it out.

The girl then looked at them both, putting her professional face on. "Alright. Just know that this mission probably is going to be a lot tougher than the last one. I know none of you used tech down there, so that probably isn't what's causing the blaze. If you must, you may use your tech down there this time around."

Adrock sighed in relief. "Thank you… you have no idea how irritating it is to not use Resta." He was going to say more before NL turned around and grabbed the hunter by the scruff of his neck. "HEY, LET ME GO!"

"Then keep up," the Ra Cast replied as he let go and continued to the transporter.

The HU newarl sighed again as she saw the pair off, sitting down with a hand to her head. "Perhaps I should've sent someone to back them up…"

"Maybe I can help then?" The Newman girl didn't even realize another person had gotten close to her before she looked up, her eyes widening as she recognized who this person was.

"Wait! Aren't you…"

000000000000000000000000000000000

_Planet Ragol_

_Forest_ _Area, Section 2_

_Central Dome Residential Area, F block_

_11:55_ _hours_

"NL, are you sure you saw a HUNTERS run this way?" Adrock asked as he chased after the machine. They had moved around the entire area, confirming where the fire was along the way. For some reason, though, their gun's extinguisher rounds weren't having an effect on it. They had gone on to further investigate, even searching for the team that was sent down, but hadn't found a thing. The two had split up for only a few minutes, and then Adrock nearly gets plowed over by the larger hunter.

"Affirmative!" NL replied as he ran towards the area that was now aflame. "I saw a force near the Central Dome platform, and my sensors detected movement heading this way. It has to be him." He approached the door with Adrock, watching as the doors opened. The flames covered five sections of the block, restricting one to carefully move through the room without getting burned. On the far side of the block is a FO newm, and he appeared to be quite scared. "There he is," NL said as he marched forward, hefting his Final Impact between his two hands as Adrock followed with pistol in hand.

"What are you doing here?" Adrock asked in a demanding tone.

"This wasn't supposed to happen…" the newman said. "The experiment went all wrong…" The Newman was shaking, in a state of shock.

"Let's go," NL said finally. "He's not going to say much else. We still need to find the others." He moved past the shaking Newman without even a glance, using a tone of voice that had the young hunter follow.

"WAIT!" the Newman yelled, startling Adrock. "HELP MEEE!" The hunter and ranger turned in alarm just a moment before a creature jumped out of hiding, slamming on top of the startled Newman and knocking him out. The creature appeared to be some sort of large ape, with rather long ears to boot. Its skin seemed to be a mix of black, blue, and yellow.

"A Hildebear?" Adrock murmured as he aimed his pistol, moments before another one jumped out from its hiding spot. Adrock barely managed to dive out of the way as it landed, giving a roar. Two more appeared in a similar fashion, far too fast for even NL to arm and fire effectively. "Four Hildebears?"

"No," NL replied as he lifted his Final Impact. "Physical aspects are incorrect, although it must be a Hilde-type creature." He fired his rounds, a series of five bullets leaving the barrel as Adrock fired on one of them. Some of them flinched, but the one furthest back reared up on its legs as it appeared ready to spit up something. NL was about to fire another salvo when that creature opened its mouth and shot a bolt of lightning out of it, striking the RAcast square in the chest. It flew back with a large scorch mark on its chest plate, the electricity of the strike surging through him as his weapon usage systems malfunctioned.

"Right…" Adrock murmured as he fired on one of the creatures again, getting two more rounds into the creature. "Definitely not Hildebears. They spit up foie, not Zond….AK!" He barely got out of the way again as another creature jumped from its spot in back, nearly pouncing on top of him. "That's it!" He holstered his weapon onto his thigh instead of sealing it in its capsule again with his one hand as he pulled out a capsule with his other, unsealing it the moment his gun was in its holster. The capsule became a glowing ball, then stretched until the Flowen Sword was in his hand. He then held it in both hands as he swung it hard towards the creature that jumped at him, managing to cut its arm off at the elbow. It screamed in pain as it swung its fist at Adrock, managing to hit the hunter before he could recover from the swing. He flew a short distance before passing through the flames, a yell of burning pain heard as the fire singed the hunter as his body rolled out of the inferno.

NL got back up and struggled to reinitialize combat mode as this exchange occurred, but that also left him open one of the others jumped onto him. He managed to duck in time, allowing him to evade the leaping monster as his systems restored. "\/07-3r #$3R!" he yelled as he dropped his shotgun, which was also smudged by the bolt, so he could arm his other weapon. Once the capsule he grabbed opened, it grew until his Guilty Light photon launcher was in his hands. "FR33Z3, F00!" The weapon got unbearably cold and started to freeze before a glob of photon was launched, impacting and freezing the creature on the spot. He was about to continue when his left arm was struck with a bolt of lightning, disabling his combat mode again as the bolt knocked him off his feet once more. He was struggling to get back on his feet when he saw the wounded creature move towards Adrock, preparing to strike. Adrock was pushing himself up onto his feet when he saw what was about to happen. "\/0V3 I7!" NL yelled.

A trio of shots broke the moment, the creature preparing to attack Adrock suddenly no longer moving as red blood spilled from its forehead. It collapsed in a heap before another few shots were heard, killing the creature still frozen as the ice broke apart, tearing the creature apart with it. Both remaining creatures turned in the direction the shots came from, where a hunter stood. A newman girl stood there, her blonde hair, cut rather short and blowing slightly in the wind. She is wearing a purple battle jacket with pink shirt under it and a pair of dark purple shorts on. Her choker showed the symbol of Bluful, and her green eyes showed determination. Her hand twitched, aiming the Bravace pistol right at the monsters as they tried to jump her. She rolled out of the way as they landed with a thud where she had stood, aiming and firing her pistol into one of the creatures. It groaned in pain as the rounds hit home, but none of them were lethal hits. As she fired on the first one, the second one moved closer to her and prepared to swing its fist into her. She saw the fist coming and barely managed to get away, the tip of the creature's knuckle causing her to spin and crash into the ground.

Adrock got back onto his feet and rearmed the Custom Ray, sealing the Flowen Sword in its container before starting his attack. He fired on the monster in back, startling it and causing its attention to shift to him. He managed to duck out of the way as the creature tried to flatten the boy with a single jump. NL got back up onto his feet and sealed his Guilty's light. He wasted little time in opening another container, with his Inferno Bazooka stored within. He aimed and fired into the creature, taking chunks of flesh off of it as explosive rounds slammed into the creature. This bought the girl enough time to get up onto her feet again and seal her Bravace in its container. A small flash signaled that she had opened another weapon container, but no one could see any weapons in her hands. She simply went up to the creature and went all martial arts on it, breaking its bones before she finally finished it off with a roundhouse kick to the ribs on the startled creature, its lungs punctured by its own broken ribcage. It gave a gargled roar as it collapsed, blood dribbling out its mouth. NL then turned to assist Adrock with a clean shot of the bazooka right up the creature's butt as the boy shot the creature full of holes in its stomach. The creature fell and died, its blood flooding out its belly and staining the grass. Once the last creature fell, the flames started to extinguish themselves, and eventually were gone within a minute.

NL sealed his bazooka and moved over to pick up his Final Impact while the girl moved over to the boy and used a resta spell, healing his wounds much better than he could using his own resta. "Thanks," Adrock muttered kindly as he stretched out quickly, making sure that nothing else was broken.

NL lifted up his shotgun for a moment before sealing it into its container and storing it with his other belongings. He then turned his armored head towards the two hunters. "Well," he started. "You always did have a knack of showing up at the last moment, Huntress."

The huntress looked at NL and gave a smirk, raising her hand in a mock salute. "Couldn't be helped," she said, a flash of her hand revealing a piece of unarmed combat gear on it, the God's Hand. "I was just lucky enough to catch up to you and save your shiny metal ass." A Sato mag mewed in agreement, while NL's Nidra mag clapped one of its claws shut with a beep of irritation. She stood up and moved towards the door to the next block. "When you two are done here, I'll be up in the guild waiting for you." With that said, she walked pass the doors and disappeared from sight as the large doors closed, leaving NL and Adrock to check the area on their own.

00000000000000000000000000000

Accessing HUNTERS files…

Two new files detected…

NL0026 (NL or just 026)

Class: Ranger Species: Android (Cast) Model: Male Series ID: Purplenum

Age: Four years Head: Armored Visor model

History: The last of the NL series RA cast type android, a model that would now be about 4 or five years old. The NL series were known to be used extensively for guard and assault missions, or that was what they were designed for. They were easy to recognize because of their apish appearance at a glance, and the fact that excessive armor plating was slapped onto the machines' large frames. They were programmed to follow orders and complete objectives, then were stored on _Pioneer 2_ until the ship arrived at Ragol. Within the first few months, only five NL model machines were still functioning. NL0026 is actually all gun-ho, although he will occasionally switch to close range when cornered or irritated. He is sometimes irritable outside of battle, tends to carry nearly eight weapons in any given scenario, and has this nasty habit of using 'L337 5P34K' when in a combat situation.

Weapons: H&S 25 Justice- A legendary machine gun from the Justice Corp. Its special attack freezes enemies. He found this weapon within the mines during a classified mission, presumably jammed in a machine in the area. It is his weapon of choice against single targets, although he rarely bothers using the freeze bullets.

Final Impact- A legendary shotgun with tremendous power. Its special attack steals enemies' experience points. This gun was given to him by Thalius, a legendary warrior at the time. After firing it once when there were no targets nearby started his L337 5P34K habit, and it has remained ever since. The weapon is his primary weapon of choice, usually loving to fire it into crowds and stronger, multi parted foes alike. His love for the gun is rivaled only by his teammates resentment towards him, namely for his tendency to accidentally shoot his allies in a frenzy of bullets from the weapon.

Guilty Light- A legendary photon launcher said to be created by an outlaw. Nowadays, he rarely ever bothers to pull out this large blaster, capable of shooting through enemies in a straight line with a glob of photons. However, the weapon holds a place in NL's circuits, and he will use it when royally angered or up against a Delsaber.

Inferno Bazooka- A powerful bazooka with highly destructive shells. Its special attack halves enemies' HP. Another weapon used when NL is royally angered, primarily due to its single shot volleys and slow rate of fire. The weapon itself is quite potent.

Armor- D-Parts Ver. 2.10 and Delsaber Shield. The shield he got by blasting a Delsaber's left arm off and giving good ol' John Montague a visit. The shield gives him impressive resilience to the dark strikes of Megid, thus keeping his systems from suffering serious trouble. The D-Parts were given to him by the Huntress, who happened to pull it out of some dark creature's belly after discovering the armor in her kill.

Adrock

Class: Hunter Species: Human (mar) Gender: Male ID:Redria

Age: 17 Eyes: deep brown Hair: Brown

History: A relatively new warrior in the HUNTERS fold. He is working alongside NL in an attempt to get stronger. He has a kind of respect for the machine, but also shows some anger towards him, probably from when his ass became yet another victim to Final Impact. He focuses on attacking in close quarters, but has been learning to use a pistol with NL's help. Unfortunately, the machine's inability to use techniques is cramping what Adrock is capable of doing, since he has no one else he knows that uses it and is willing to team up with him. He is a bit curious about the girl known as 'Huntress' as NL calls her.

Weapons: Flowen's Sword- Replica of a sword once used by the military. An extremely common replica. This is Adrock's real weapon of choice, a weapon given to him by his own father, who mysteriously disappeared a few months after arriving on Ragol. It's lightweight construction doesn't interfere with his evasiveness, making it even better to him.

Custom Ray Ver.00- A pistol used by military group "TEAM 00." Proves the bearer to be a member of the team. Far from what it claims to be, the weapon is only Adrock's secondary weapon, and he by no means is a member of TEAM 00. He found this gun from some random creature's belly.

Armor- Guardian Armor, Celestial Shield. Unlike his ally, his armors were purchased in the shop. They are well built and give him adequate protection, but aren't as great as the gear that some other, better skilled hunters may have.

End of new records…

00000000000000

A note on combat in PSO: Lost Episode

The focus on the fight scenes is for as much realism as possible without loosing the effect of the world of PSO. I would like to think that I did an adequate job with the HUNTERS versus the Hildets and the huntresses versus Olga Flow from last chapter, and will try to do even better in future battle scenes.

The one thing that would need explaining is the weapon switch, which some players of the online game utilize in the mists of battle. Essentially, it would be quite difficult for some hunters, like NL0026, to run around with an excessively large set of equipment. I mean, some of those weapons require two hands to hold, and carrying several dual hand weapons would put a strain on anyone's back. In the case of the weapons, some of the small handguns and blades will have holsters which the hunter can secure the weapon when they aren't in use. For most other weapons, the capsule system will be used. Throughout the game, players collect such capsules to obtain weapons, armor, and tools for battle. Not just that, but the Dragon Ball series also introduced a capsule system capable of storing anything, from small weapons to motor bikes and mobile homes. Essentially, each hunter carries a bag or case full of these weapon capsules. All they need to do is just pop it open and instant weapon. This method also would help explain why weapons shimmer, glow, and make some odd sound as they are equipped in the battlefield.

Now that that's out of the way, I would like to hear any comments you may have, no matter how harsh. Expect the next chapter to arrive soon.


End file.
